Diplomatic sources said today that no change is expected in Syria’s hard-line policy toward Israel as a result of this week’s change of Government in Damascus. The sources noted that Syrian regimes have been unstable and have changed frequently in the past 15 years but their policies toward Israel had remained consistently hostile, diminishing only slightly during the two-year period when Syria and Egypt were united to form the United Arab Republic.
In the Government change, Dr. Nureddin al-Attassi, head of state, replaced Dr. Yussef Zayen as Premier in Cabinet shifts in which military professionals displaced Baathist Party ideologists. Dr. Ibrahim Makhous, Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister, was dropped from the Government. Lt. Gen. Hafez al-Assad, the Defense Minister and Air Force commander-in-chief, was listed as second to Dr. al-Attassi.
It was expected that the new Government would seek closer military ties with Jordan and Iraq, both belligerents in the June, 1967 Six-Day War.
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